Searching for dragons. Part I.

[Orran]

"No, I want to hire someone to read for me, it's basically just a case of taking down the location of every reference to dragons, then cross referencing them, categorizing by name, color location and date, and plotting them all on to a map of the isles. It should be simple, but slow and boring work." Strixi passes his now empty drink back, "I think another before bed wouldn't go amiss."

"No, should I? I was actually talking about papers of approval, so I can move my research into more restricted areas. I don't think many mages actually admit how little magic is involved and how much research. Not forgetting politics."

[Kredine]

"Very few public buildings will let you in without them. They're quite important around here."
She pours you the drink.
"Its not just lessers, before you start spouting about oppression again. Everyone in the city has to carry them. I doubt you'll get into a library unless you can get hold of some"
She smiles coyly as she delivers the last line.

[Orran]

"Oh great, and of course Baldeen didn't bother to mention them." Strixi smiles back. "I think you underestimate how good I am at getting to places I shouldn't be, but let's hear your solution before I go becoming an enemy of the state."

[Kredine]

"Solution?"
She looks at you mock-quizzical, leaning heavily on the bar
"I wouldn't know anything about getting papers. I'm just a tavern owner after all."
She slides one of her hands towards you, before walking along the bar to clean some glasses, leaving behind a small piece of paper.

Finish your drink. Go to your room.

[Orran]

You know, if we're going to be doing things like this more often, I should let you know I have a much more effective type of secret communication.

Apart from that, Strixi does as instructed. Once in his room, he uses detect magic to check for any magical signatures present. Kane waits on the windowsill.

[Kredine]

"You know that trick of yours works better when it goes both ways"
Ashara steps into your room, followed by her Shield Guardian.
"You needn't be checking for magic. My constructs are all I need"

[You detect no magic in the area you were looking]

She closes the door, her orange hair shines in the moonlight.

"I can get you those papers little kobold. For a price."

[Orran]

"It does work both ways, just try thinking at me. So long as I've said something to you recently and I'm aware of you, I'll hear." Sensing no magic, the kobold stops focusing. "You can't be too careful Ashala, or at least I can't here."

Turning round and facing her properly, he puts his haversack down on the bed. "Of course there's a price, there always is."

[Kredine]

She laughs at you.

"Well if there wasn't how would I make a living?"

"Anyways, I have some papers here. I could give you this one for a few hundred gold."
She pulls out a rolled up piece of paper
"Its only good for another week though, and won't get you outside the common grounds. Or, I can give you this one"
She pulls out another paper.
"This ones good for a couple months. A research paper, it'll get you into most of the libraries in the city, maybe elsewhere too. Of course this one will cost more than gold"

[Orran]

"I imagine an enterprising girl like you would open a tavern or something. he smiles, bargaining, now that he knows a little about.

Listening to the two options, and pretending to think about them, he opens the window for kane. "Careful out there buddy, remember there's plenty of things that think a bat is prey." Strixi refreshes the defensive spells on the bat, who flies away.

"More than gold? So we talking platinum here? the sorcerer asks coyly.

[Kredine]

"I'm sure you could offer enough platinum, but I had something else in mind. A job. Something that need not be connected to me. Something to be done while I have an airtight alibi."

She spins the papers around.

"Interested?"

[Orran]

"Now we're talking, you'll have to be more specific though." Strixi is itching to take the papers, but holds his claw back for now.

[Kredine]

"That's what I like to hear. The twitchy hobgoblin you might have seen earlier. He's a mad old wizard, with quite a few secrets."
Bored of standing, she takes a seat on your bed.
"My sources tell me he is in possession of an interesting book. Useless on its own, but with its partners, quite something. I'll need you to find a way into his home, tomorrow, while I am elsewhere - with many witnesses. If you have the book tomorrow evening when I come to collect your room money, you can have the paper. Feel free to keep anything else you find."

"Do we have a deal?"

[Orran]

"Oh that guy, mad old wizard huh?" Says the kobold, while attempting to remember when the hobgoblin left.

"Standard breaking and entering I can handle. A wizard mark makes life a little more interesting, do you know his address, what the book looks like and if he lives alone?"

[Kredine]

"Of course"
She hands you a crude map of the pits, indicating the hobgoblin's house.
"You're looking for an old book. Quite thick, it will be titled and written in a language you likely wont understand. As far as I know he lives alone"
She lifts herself off the bed.
"From what I've overheard of his ramblings he has the place warded against intruders. I'm not sure how though, but I expect a capable little sorecerer to be able to handle it."
She leaves the room, closing the door behind her.

[Orran]

Strixi decides to seize the opportunity to do some early scouting, so he transforms into a pseudodragon, grabs his equipment, and flies out the window towards the area the map indicates.
Once nearby, he lands on a roof a couple of houses over and assesses the situation, casting detect magic and focusing on it to study each window and the roof of the building.

[Kredine]

The house is a single floor, with two windows on the east side, and a single door. There is no discernible entry through the roof. Each window has a faint magical aura.

[Orran]

Strixi takes the time to identify the individual auras.
"Spellcraft 1" - (1d20+7)[12]
"Spellcraft 2" - (1d20+7)[11]

Spoiler

Show

For reference, the DC to detect the school of the spell present is 15+ spell level. I have also assumed that when you said faint, that indicates CL <5.

Spells Remaining:
3rd: 3 (Cast 2 Heart of water)
2ns: 6 (Cast 1 Alter Self)
1st: 5 (Cast 2 Mage Armor)
Cantrips: 5 (Cast 2 Detect Magic)

[Kredine]

You fail to determine the spells schools.

[Orran]

Puzzled by the complexity of the defensive spells, Strixi flies over to the building and inspects the roof, seeing if there are any loose tiles or any other small holes. He only needs a space 6 inches across to gain entry, which is the same as a standard rat.

[Kredine]

By simply flying over the roof you cannot discern any holes that would be suitable for entry.

[Orran]

Strixi lands on the roof because he is a daredevil.
Take 10 on move silently gives 13.

[Kredine]

Upon closer inspection you can still not find any holes in the roof. There are signs of many repairs across the roof. Perhaps the crazy hobgoblins is scared of this exact scenario.

[Orran]

Wanting to avoid entering through any of the standard entrance points, Strixi flies to the ground and inspects it to see if he could burrow through it, hoping there would be a rat's nest or other area underneath the floor boards somewhere that he could get to.

[Kredine]

The ground is mostly cobbled stone, though there are small areas of mud and soft dirt nearby the house where grass and other plants have grown.

[Orran]

A small patch is enough for Strixi, so he transforms into a wyrmling white dragon and burrows under the house, attempting to find any way to the floorboards, any animal nests or warrens, any gaps in the soil due to erosion or earth movement, or pretty much anything other than ground.
This is difficult since he posseses no form of tremor sense or similar, so he moves at half of his 30ft movement speed.

[Kredine]

After a short while of search, you find - oddly - a patch of dirt leading into his house, roughly 2ft by 3ft, with neat edges and roots coming through it.

[Orran]

Strixi briefly laments his lack of knowledge about the natural world, but quickly overcomes it because nature is for sissies.
He bites the largest root pretty hard, if this were some kind of magic plant monster it would probably react in some way. At which point the Kobold/Dragon would burrow away like a sissie.
The lingering feeling it would be nice to have a fire breathing bat around continues to linger.

[Kredine]

The root does not react.
There is a bitter taste in your mouth

[Orran]

Assuming he does not die through some odd kind of posion based plant trap for subterranean invaders, Strixi cautiously pokes his face through the dirt.

"Hide" - (1d20+13)[32]

[Kredine]

You poke your head just above ground. There is a thicket of plants in your vision. You can mostly make out a small room however, which appears to be a herb patch of some kind.